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Monday, June 16, 2014

Susan Page Davis' "Beaches and Brides"

Interview with Susan Page Davis

Title: The Beaches and Brides Romance Collection, from Barbour Publishing
My novel in this collection is The Castaway’s Bride.

Cover blurb
Venture along historic American shorelines, enjoying five novels full of adventure, challenge, and romance. In Key West a couple collides over a child s welfare. In Washington, a captain s wife guards a secret. In Maine, a castaway returns from the dead. In Georgia, a woman dares to man a lighthouse alone. In Virginia, a wounded soldier recoups at a seaside cottage. Watch as God works through their challenges to bring them safely to a harbor of love. Authors in the collection are: Cathy Marie Hake, Lynn A. Coleman, Susan Page Davis, Mary Davis, and Page Winship Dooly.

How did this story come to you?
I first envisioned my novel (The Castaway’s Bride) as focusing more on the hero than the heroine. I wanted to tell his story, beginning at the point where he was marooned on a Pacific island. However, the editor preferred to start the story when he arrived home, and so that is where we open. I’ve always loved survival stories, and I may write another book someday about a castaway’s ordeal.

Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
My story in this collection was the second in a trilogy of historical novels set in Maine. The Prisoner’s Wife, set in 1720, came first, and The Lumberjack’s Lady, set in 1895, was the third. I actually submitted The Prisoner’s Wife by itself, and when asked to do two more Maine novels, I came up with the other two plots. The Castaway’s Bride was fun to write, but also required a lot of research in Portland. Maine had just come to statehood in 1820, and Portland was its first capital. I needed to double check everything, including what buildings were there then and which ones were under construction.

Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
I grew up in an old stone farmhouse that had no running water until I was about eight years old. I have six children, and all were home-schooled. In junior high, I was my district’s spelling champion.

What are you working on now and what’s next for you?
I am writing a new western for Barbour Publishing. It’s called The Outlaw Takes a Bride, and will release in spring 2015. Meanwhile, I will have a couple of Christmas-themed novellas out this fall, and a couple more cozy mysteries for Guideposts Books. Shady Characters just released, and All That Glitters will appear in October.

Parting comments?
I’m happy to be giving away a copy of The Beaches and Brides Romance Collection. Choose the beautiful paper-covered anthology, or an e-book of my individual novel, The Castaway’s Bride.

Where can fans find you on the internet?
Come see me on my Website: www.susanpagedavis.com or my FaceBook page: https://www.facebook.com/susanpagedavisauthor